Senior Punjab Congress leader Raj Kumar Chabbewal quits party, joins AAP

In a setback to the Congress ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, senior party leader from Punjab and MLA Raj Kumar Chabbewal on Friday quit the party and joined the ruling Aam Aadmi Party.

The 54-year-old Chabbewal quit as a legislator from the Chabbewal assembly constituency in the Hoshiarpur district. He was also the Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly.

The prominent Dalit leader joined the AAP here and was welcomed into the party fold by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Chabbewal is the second Congress leader from Punjab to join the AAP within a week.

Gurpreet Singh GP, a former Congress MLA from Bassi Pathana, had recently joined the AAP.

The AAP, which named its candidates for eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats on Thursday, is likely to field him from the Hoshiarpur reserved parliamentary constituency.

Speaking to reporters here in the presence of Punjab ministers Harpal Singh Cheema and Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer, Chabbewal said he is impressed with the pro-people policies of the AAP government, especially for the poor and weaker sections.

He also said the AAP government is following the path and ideals of Dr B R Ambedkar and Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

The main focus of the AAP government is education and health and several steps have been taken in these fields, he said.

Punjab Congress leaders slammed Chabbewal calling him an opportunist.

"Such a shameful deed was not at all expected from him. I urge the people of Punjab to teach such defectors a lesson in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections," senior Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa, who is Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, said.

Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said "People have become opportunists".

Congress gave him due respect while he was in the party. He was deputy leader of the Congress in the state, Warring said.

Just a few days ago, he came down heavily on the AAP government, Warring said, adding that Punjabis never side with "disloyal people".

In a post in Punjabi on X, the AAP state unit said the party has been further strengthened with the joining of Chabbewal.

Impressed by the pro-people policies of Mann, Chabbewal has joined the AAP, and the AAP posted along with photos of Chabbewal being welcomed by the CM.

Chabbewal had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Hoshiarpur on a Congress ticket but had lost to the BJP's Som Prakash.

He has in the past been vocal against the AAP government on various fronts. Recently, he said that Punjab is facing serious issues, including mounting debt and drug problems.

In the recently held budget session of the Punjab Assembly, Chabbewal had carried a bale on his head to highlight, in a symbolic manner, the state's mounting debt.

In another symbolic move, he had also brought an iron chain to the House to urge the AAP MLAs to restrict themselves to their homes, saying that the day is not far when the people will start raising slogans against them given the law and order situation.

When pointed out that he had carried a bale and brought an iron chain, Chabbewal told reporters that these were symbolic gestures and as an opposition member it was his right to hold a protest.

Chabbewal also said that he has seen days of poverty and it has always been his dream to dedicate his life to serving the poor.

"I have seen days of poverty. My late father was a peon in a bank and it was his dream that he should give a good education to his children," he said.

"In joining politics my sole aim was the welfare of the poor and to work for them," he said.

On his Congress stint, he said, "I remained in the Congress for 12 years. After a gap of 45 years, the Congress won the Chabbewal seat in 2017. Later, despite AAP wave in 2022, I won the seat again".

He said he was impressed with the pro-poor policies of this government. Every poor should get a roof over his head and this government is working to ensure that, he said.

"I will work as a dedicated soldier of the party," he said.

When asked if he is a contender for the Lok Sabha ticket from Hoshiarpur, he said, "Whatever role the party assigns me, I will do that".

Finance Minister Cheema said Chabbewal's joining shows how strong AAP is at ground level in Punjab and in the country.

"It is a matter of joy and happiness that he has bid goodbye to the wrong policies of Congress and accepted the pro-people policies of AAP. We welcome him into our party fold," Cheema said.

Meet Hayer said that the opposition also knows that good work is being done by the AAP government.

Hayer said Chabbewal's move to join the AAP will especially give a boost to the party in the Doaba region.

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal had on Monday launched his party's campaign in Punjab and asked people to ensure his party's victory on all 13 Lok Sabha seats to raise their voices in Parliament.

The AAP, a constituent of the INDIA bloc, is fighting the Lok Sabha elections alone in Punjab. The AAP and the Congress have sealed a seat-sharing deal for Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, Gujarat, Goa and Haryana but decided to contest separately in Punjab considering the "special circumstances" in the state.